The Next Generation
by BryceWrites
Summary: Dean's daughter, Ellie, is a headstrong rebel, just trying to explore San Francisco while they're supposed to be hunting witches. Piper's son, Wyatt, is a kind soul who could make friends with anybody. But when Wyatt finds Ellie at the local library, researching his family, he wants to know what she's about.
1. Chapter 1

Ellie sighed, looking out the window of the old black car. Her father had always maintained the beautiful black stead while her mother had been alive. It was the first thing her parents talked about; her father's car. It was a 1967 Chevrolet Impala, built like a wall and made of steel most cars nowadays had never seen.

Although Ellie preferred the view from the passenger seat, her uncle was taking that position. She wanted to protest, but it'd do her no good. Long before she'd been put in the backseat of the four door classic car, she knew well enough that her Uncle out ranked her by a mile. Throwing a fit would only make her father give her the 'don't give me attitude about this' look.

And it was a terrible look. It was a lecture and a guilt trip all rolled into one. Those were the worst. The man didn't even have to say a word and she knew exactly what he was trying to say to her. Her uncle would generally just smirk like he knew exactly what her father was trying to relay. Actually, he probably did if the stories they told about their 'glory days' were anything close to accurate.

"Ellie, did you do any research on the coven in the area?"

Leave it to Uncle Sam to bring up the fact she'd neglected to do the only task they'd given her so far this hunt. She sighed again, rubbing across her forehead. "I uh… I mean, I did… I did some." She muttered out, hoping it would be a good enough answer while simultaneously knowing it wasn't.

"You didn't do the research like we asked you to?" Her father's voice broke out, sounding so much harsher in the car and suddenly the boat of a vehicle felt very, very small. "The only thing we asked you to do and you forget?"

She hadn't forgotten; she always did the research like they asked her to. But this time was different. She'd wanted to visit San Francisco since she was little. The Golden Gate Bridge, the history, the art, the classic Victorian structure of the houses; it was all gorgeous to her and she was too excited to just be there that the thought of having to hunt witches had been put at the back of her mind.

"You gonna answer me, or you just gonna stare out the window?" Dean's voice asked sharply and when she turned, she could see him looking at her in the rearview mirror.

"I was just excited to be here. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She mumbled quietly, ducking her head and watching the road whirl by outside the car.

"Dean…" Uncle Sam sighed, looking over at his older brother. Sam had a tendency to throw her under the bus and then doing his damnedest to pull her back out from under it.

She saw the look her father gave her uncle and she didn't know quite how to translate it; she hadn't seen it nearly as often as the guilt-trip-lecture laced look.

"Ellie," Her father started, looking in the rearview mirror at her again. "I love you. But if we ask you to do something, it's because it's important. If we ask you to do research that means we need your help. I know you've wanted to come here for a long time and I'm gonna do my damnedest to go to some of those museums or whatever it is you wanna see," He told her. "But we gotta get rid of these witches first."

She sat there, thinking about it for a moment before she glanced up to catch his gaze in the rearview. She nodded slowly. "I'm sorry about dropping the research."

"You're forgiven if you make up for it when we get to the motel." He told her, his voice easing its hard edge, but she knew it was a command, not a request. Dean Winchester wasn't a soft father, after all.

* * *

"Wyatt! You get down here, right this second!"

He cringed, hearing his mom's words from the bottom of the stairs. Oh man if she was yelling, that could only mean he'd forgotten to take the trash out again. He sighed, trudging his way down the stairs. He paused at the landing, seeing his mother with her arms crossed over her chest, an irritated look on her face.

And then he remembered how he'd cursed Chris's hair to stay pink until he'd apologize for smashing his game station.

"What is this?" Piper asked, fluffing Chris's pink hair.

Wyatt might have been eighteen, but he was definitely still scared of his mother. "Um… pink… hair?" He deadpanned.

His mom looked mad enough to spit. "Try again."

"Okay, look, yes, I cursed him to have pink hair. But it'll go away as soon as he apologizes for crushing my iBox yesterday!" Wyatt said, gesturing to his younger brother.

"That was a pretty good idea." Melinda, his youngest sibling, said, coming to lean on the wall at the end of the stairs.

"Thanks." He mumbled, knowing his mother wouldn't appreciate the comment.

"Why did you crush his iBox?" Piper whirled on the younger boy, knowing the game system was barely six months old and still very expensive.

Chris cringed, the same as Wyatt had when he'd first heard his mother yell. "Well, I mean, aren't we here because Wyatt cursed me? That's against the rules anyway!"

"Christopher." Piper said lowly, showing her anger.

The younger brother gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing. "I didn't mean to!"

"You sent it flying through the air." Wyatt said, glaring slightly at his brother.

"Well… Okay, he made me mad and the only thing I could think to do was send it flying." Chris said, hanging his head.

"Wyatt, you will not curse your brother again. Chris, apologize sincerely so your hair changes back. Melinda, go change your shirt; you're not going to school like that." Piper said. "And hurry up. You're gonna be late!" She said, rushing off to the kitchen.

Chris sighed as Melinda headed upstairs to change her top. "I'm sorry for breaking your iBox." Chris told his older brother.

Wyatt nodded his acceptance of the apology as Chris's hair slowly turned from bubblegum pink to its normal dark brown. Melinda came back down the stairs and Piper rushed back into the hall.

"What are you doing standing there? Come on. Get in the car." She shooed her kids, moving them towards the entry way to grab their backpacks and propped the door open for them to file out of the manor.

Wyatt shook his head as he climbed into his hand-me-down Jeep Cherokee with Chris in the passenger seat, waving to his mother as she drove off with his sister.

* * *

"So," Ellie started after pushing open the door to her dad and uncle's motel room. Dean had been kind enough to offer her a room to herself, as it was the only time she had any space to herself. He'd sold their house when her mother had died, but this was as close as she got to 'having her own room'. "I found a book in the local library that isn't released online. It keeps looping back to this 'book of shadows'. I can find pretty much jack squat for lore on the book, but there's a few things that keeping mentioning like this master book of witch spells that is guarded by three sister witches, the strongest of all witch magic."

"Like, the Crowley of witches?" Dean asked, glancing at his brother with a look of disapproval for the situation.

Ellie shrugged. She'd never met Crowley, but she'd heard some stories. "That's kind of what it sounds like, but it's like all the other lore has been erased except for this book at the library."

"Gonna go check it out?" Sam asked.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, and before you ask," She said, looking at her dad. "Yes, I do have a silver knife and a vial of dead man's blood, just in case."

Dean smirked, but she could see that it was laced with worry. "Want me to go with you?"

Ellie shook her head. "No, it's fine. I've got it covered. I've also got my cellphone unless anything comes up in the meantime." She told her, moving for the door again and heading straight across the parking lot.

She knew the library was only ten minutes away. Although, now that she thought of it, Google had probably meant by car… But still, the distance wasn't as far as across town and she liked walking along the road. The people were always different no matter the city they ended up in and the houses were gorgeous, even the ones that looked a little dilapidated. She liked how the new and modern met with the old and classic here in the city. It made her smile a little bit.

The library wasn't a hard building to find; it was nearly three times the size of the normal library she'd stumble upon. Usually, they'd end up in smaller towns where superstitions ran deep like tree roots. Here, the city was big enough to forget a lot of the folklore that had originally worried their ancestors.

With a little guidance of the librarian and a few insistences that she wasn't part of a cult, she ended up sitting on the floor with half a dozen books sprawled out around her. She was kind of flipping back and forth from one to another as they each referenced each other, scribbling down notes from passages she thought might be useful.

She glanced up, feeling a pair of eyes on her, but a quick scan of the area showed that nobody was obviously watching her. She shook it off, telling herself to stop being paranoid and focus on the task. But after another few moments, she felt the sensation of being watched, like someone's eyes boring into her.

She looked up again and this time, found a boy a few feet away from her. Well, if she had to guess from his height and amount of facial hair, he was probably more of a man than a boy. He was standing at the bookshelf she had her back to, glancing at the books sprawled around her. She looked at him until his eyes shifted to hers. She wasn't going to say anything, just watch him until he asked what she was doing or just bolted.

"Doing some light reading?" He asked with a smirk.

Ellie watched him for another moment. She'd been prepared to argue with the passerby, or glare him down. But being friendly hadn't made her list of possible outcomes.

"Um, yeah, actually." She said, glancing down at the books before looking up at the tall brunette.

He slowly moved closer, twisting his head to read the book that had previously been upside down to him. "The Tales of the Salem Trials, Spellcasting and The Fundamentals, A Witch's Last Breath, and the Architecture of San Francisco." His tone was questioning, curious as he listed off the four different books she'd strung out.

"Well, the first three are for a school project and the last one is just for me since I was already here." Ellie murmured, suddenly feeling embarrassed for the book about San Francisco's famous structures.

"May I?" He asked, gesturing to the empty span of floor to her right.

"Uh, yeah, sure." She told him, moving the book about the Salem trials so he could sit down.

"What kind of school project are you doing exactly?" He asked, pulling the spellcasting book closer to look at it.

"Well, I'm homeschooled. My dad is huge into mythology and stuff. Every week is a different legend or myth. I have to do a bunch of research on whatever the subject is, and then I have to give a report on why I think it's real or not, and where the first legend may have come from. This week is witches." Ellie explained

She'd thought out this reason a long time ago. Most people tended to buy it pretty easily, especially in the smaller towns where they knew she wasn't from the area.

This boy, however, glanced at her for a moment like he didn't believe her.

"Crap, I'm sorry. I'm Wyatt." He said quickly, holding out his hand to her.

She smiled. "Nice to meet you. Ellie."

He smiled back before taking another look at the spellcasting book. "Do you…" He trailed off, seeming like he was trying to organize his thoughts. "You don't actually believe in this do you?"

Ellie scoffed, rolling her eyes for effect. She'd mastered the technique of avoidance from her father a long time ago. "What? Are you kidding? This is the stupidest stuff." She said, shaking her head and picking up the book about the trials. " 'The general populace of people accused of witchcraft were women who had probably been in the wrong time at the wrong place. A few of them were accused of holding back the rains, making crops wither, or for owning a black cat.' I mean, a black cat? That's not witchcraft; that's genetics."

Wyatt smiled at her. "No, I totally agree. But you know how the world's going now a days. Everybody's into something weird." He said with a shrug as he set the book down.

Ellie nodded. "So you live here?"

"At the library? No. But that'd definitely be a lot cooler than where I do live now." He told her.

She gave a breathy chuckle and a sigh, shaking her head at him. "I didn't mean this building; I meant this city."

Wyatt grinned over at her. "Yes, I do live in this city. But if I had to guess, I'd say you don't."

"Ah. A guesser. Interesting." Ellie smiled. "But correct."

"What's wrong with being a guesser?" He asked, giving her a funny look.

"Nothing." She told him, shaking her head.

"No, now you've got to tell me." He said.

She sighed, smiling a little. "My family's a bunch of 'knowers' instead of 'guessers'. That's what my mom used to call it. She told me my dad was the biggest knower she'd ever met, because he always had a steadfast answer for everything; regardless of the situation."

"Used to?" Wyatt asked quietly, dropping his voice a little as the librarian came around the corner and glared at them both.

"Sorry." Ellie said quietly, giving a little wave before she turned back to Wyatt. She thought about just telling him the generic version of the story, but really; she'd know this guy all of ten minutes. "I reserve that story for people who earn the right to hear it."

Wyatt's eyebrows moved higher on his face and Ellie considered how it didn't seem to match the rest of his features. "Oh?" His eyebrows came back to rest in their natural position, but there was a kind of worry line running across his forehead.

"It's just… I move around a lot, going with my dad when he works. And I don't like to give out secrets to people who are just curious; to people who are going to forget me when I leave again." She said, moving to gather the books up. "But it was very nice to meet you, Wyatt. Thank you for keeping me company." She told me, standing up, picking up her armful of books and her notebook before dumping the books on a cart and moving for the exit.

God, her dad was gonna kill her for being late.

* * *

"Who was that?" Chris asked, coming around the corner shortly after Ellie had left.

Wyatt looked up at him from his place on the floor, although he wasn't really surprised. Chris had a knack for eve's dropping. "That, my friend, was a girl." Wyatt said, pushing himself off the floor and patting his brother on the shoulder. "Don't get too excited."

"No, but did you hear what she was talking about? Witches?" Chris asked, before glancing around their direct area and lowering his voice. "Is she onto us?"

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "Onto us? Listen to yourself. Have you been watching the old X-Files shows?"

Chris looked put out. "Well, yeah, but that's not the point."

"Chris, nobody believes in witches anymore, remember? That's why nobody burns at the stake, because nobody believes they exist. No, would you calm down and help me find the culinary section? I need to figure out how to make that thing mom was talking about." Wyatt spoke, trying to rationalize where the food books might be.

"Don't you know the dewey decimal system?" Chris sighed, taking a glance at the shelf nearest them before heading off in another direction.

"Some of us don't have ridiculously vast memories for stupid things." Wyatt commented, making his brother turn around.

"I'm not gonna help you if you're going to keep insulting me." Chris said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Wyatt sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry. Please."

Chris nodded his approval before leading the way.

Melinda came around the corner, her nose in a fiction book about witches.

"Isn't that kind of stupid?" Chris asked his sister, while looking at his brother and gesturing to the shelf unit he stood in front of.

Wyatt got to worked scanning the titles, looking for the French cookbook his mother had mentioned yesterday morning before school.

"It's not stupid. I like to see how people fictitiously write us." Melinda said with a shrug, closing the book.

"This is what I'm talking about." Chris said, turning to look at Wyatt. "People still believe in us. We've got to be careful."

Wyatt rolled his eyes before looking over at the middle child. "They don't believe in _us_ ," He said, gesturing to the three of them. "They believe in the idea of magic. Why's that so bad? The world's a bad enough place. Let them believe in whatever kind of distorted magic their innocent minds can create to make their lives a little easier to handle." He said, going back to the book shelf.

"Are you looking for that book mom told you about? The one for that French pastry thing she wants for her birthday?" Melinda asked Wyatt.

He grinned, pulling a book off the shelf before he cracked it open and starting shuffling through it, looking for the recipe. "Yeah. Aunt Phoebe said she'd get whatever I needed for it so it didn't look so suspicious."

"Well, hurry up. Mom wanted us all to work at the restaurant tonight." Melinda said, looking at her watch.

"Alright, alright. Here goes." Wyatt said, heading for the checkout counter, his younger siblings following behind him.

"Do you think anybody really believes in us?" Melinda quietly whispered to Chris behind Wyatt's back, gently waving her book back and forth to illustrate what she meant.

Chris shrugged. "There's always somebody that believes, I think."

Melinda nodded like she agreed, looking a little worried. "Let's just hope they don't _really_ believe."

Chris nodded along with her and Wyatt knew that while he always wished the best of his situation, deep down he knew if demons were real, if witches were real, and evil was real, there would always be somebody out there who believed it was real.


	2. Chapter 2

Ellie was not surprised at her father's stance as she returned back to the motel. She'd gone through this scenario enough times, she could probably do both sides of the dialogue without trying too hard. Before she even entered the room, she knew her uncle would be sitting down at the little desk the room provided, paperwork and research covering it around his laptop. Her father would be standing up, either with his hands on his hips or running down his face, facing her uncle while Sam told him it would be fine.

It wasn't that she ever ran off and was gone for days at a time; she never completely disappeared. She just needed space from the two men and she knew her father would never voluntarily let her just go do things. So on her way back from the library, she stopped at a few historical structures, taking in the city's architecture.

Although she never got lost and it _was_ on the way back to the motel, she had been gone an hour or two more than originally planned.

So pushing open the door revealed exactly what she'd thought; her father standing up, hands on his hips, facing Sam who was surrounded by research at the little desk.

"Hey. So I found a bunch of-" She started.

"Where the hell have you been?" Dean roared.

Usually she could at least get out a piece of information to make them pause the tirade. Not today.

She pursed her lips together, watching him. He was more upset today than normal and she wasn't really sure where that stemmed from. "Out doing research, like I told you I was going to." She said, handing the notebook to Sam who would plug everything into his computer.

"For four hours?" Dean asked sharply.

"That's not weird. I've been gone for longer." Ellie spoke, glancing at her uncle like he could give some indication as to what was going on.

"And I've been madder." Dean said, although she wasn't sure that was true. She could almost see foam forming in the corners of his mouth.

"How about we skip this song and dance this time around, alright?" Ellie asked, making her dad's face fall blank.

"Excuse me?" He asked with a dangerous calm.

"Look, I get it. You're pissed off that I went and did my own thing, didn't call, didn't write, no bat signal in the sky to check in. I get it. But I found a lot of stuff at the library, so can we just talk about that?" Ellie asked.

"No we can't! You just go missing for hours and you don't answer your cellphone, which funny enough, is exactly the purpose of a cellphone! I don't even know why you have the damn thing!" He roared.

"Fine, here." She told him, pulling it out of her pocket and handing it to him. "Look, we did this last week in Ogallala, and the week before in New Haven and the week before in Birmingham. Can we skip this week?"

"Obviously we can't if I've told you this many times and you still don't understand it." His words said harshly as he took the phone from her.

Sam ducked his head and Ellie could tell he had felt the words much the same way she had; straight to the chest. She worked her jaw, telling herself to choose her next words carefully.

"I know today is mom's death date. I get it. I might be dumb, but I'm not stupid. So could you figure out why you're really pissed off and maybe go kill something evil before it ends up being me?" Ellie spat. Dean recoiled from her words, the look on his face contorting and disfiguring his once handsome features.

She turned to Uncle Sam, who seemed to be trying to force his massive figure to melt with the cheap wallpaper so none of the words from either of them got turned on him. "Read up on that book of shadows. It's the source of their power." She told him quietly, knowing he didn't deserve to be around either of them right now. She moved to the door, closing it behind her.

Sighing, Ellie looked out at the near empty parking lot. She moved down a door to her room, opened the door and closed it again, making it sound like she'd gone inside. She sure as hell wasn't going to sit in her room like a good little girl and wait for daddy to start yelling again.

She moved across the parking lot, heading for the main road. She wanted to see more of the Victorian style houses. Besides, dad and Uncle Sam wouldn't be looking for her in the residential district. So she bought a map at the gas station that had some local trivia on it and she wandered farther away from the motel. She'd walk for a while before she'd stand in one place and just take in the way the buildings were put together. She was happy to see most of them were maintained pretty well; very few of them looking worn down.

Ellie didn't like to stand outside a person's home too long; it tended to draw unwanted attention to herself. So she meandered down the road, coming to stop in front of an old Victorian style home. The map said it was one of the oldest homes in the district and she was surprised, considering the good condition it was in. And there were vehicles in the driveway and in front of the house, so she knew it was occupied.

So when the front door opened, she started to panic, looking down at the map as she quickly moved out from in front of the house.

"Ellie?"

She froze, hearing her name from the stranger's mouth. She had a second of internal debate before turning around.

* * *

"Are you serious?" Chris roared, looking up at his mother.

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me or you won't have a voice to take a tone with." Piper warned him.

He quickly closed his mouth, remembering the last time his mother had taken his voice from him and it hadn't been a pleasant experience at all. "I have to replace it?"

"You broke it, you buy it. Unless you can spell cast your way out of this, since that's how you got here in the first place." His mother told him pointedly.

"But I'm not start enough to make spells!" Chris protested. "And it's not like the book of shadows has an index for fixing broken iBoxes."

"Well you best figure it out. And absolutely no money casting spells. Period. You either work for it at the restaurant or you fix it with a spell." Piper told him.

Wyatt shook his head at his brother, turning to move back towards the front of the house.

"And you can't ask your sister for help." Piper said as Melinda came around the corner into the kitchen.

"But she's the best spell caster out of the three of us." Chris complained.

Wyatt sighed, moving to look out the front window. He didn't really care about the iBox as much as it was the principal of the thing. He paused, pulling back the lace curtain as he saw a girl standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, looking down at a map. When she looked back up, she wasn't looking at the window. If he'd had to guess, she was looking at the top of the house. And then he'd remembered the girl at the library who had a bunch of witch books next to a book about architecture.

"I don't believe it." He commented, moving towards the door.

"Wyatt? What's wrong?" His mother asked, moving towards him through the dining room.

"Ellie?" He asked, pulling open the front door.

She definitely looked spooked as she ducked her head into the map, moving down the sidewalk, but she paused as her name was said. He could tell she was fighting with herself as she turned back towards the house.

"Wyatt?" She asked and he smiled at the way she said his name.

"Are you stalking me? Because that would be pretty cool." He told her, moving to stand on the top of the walkway.

"Uh, what? No. I mean, maybe secretly observing without hope of interaction." She shrugged, slowly moving back towards him. She cracked an unsteady smile and he wondered if maybe she didn't do it very often. "No, really, I wasn't. I just… I was just kind of…" She sighed a little, ducking her head before looking back up at him.

"The house, right? Oldest in the district." Wyatt spoke. "I uh… saw the architecture book at the library."

She nodded, still at the bottom of the walkway. "Yeah. I just needed out of that stupid motel. Thought I'd take in the sights."

"Wyatt? Are you going to make the girl stand at the bottom of the driveway or are you going to invite her inside?" His mom asked from behind him.

"You wanna come in?" Wyatt asked, like he'd just thought of it.

"What? No. I couldn't intrude. I'm really sorry for bothering you." Ellie said, giving a little wave before starting to move away.

Something sounded and suddenly everything froze. He turned to his mother, biting his lip. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

He nodded, ducking his head. "I met her at the library, she's from out of town. She travels with her dad for his work and she really likes architecture."

"She's pretty." His mom said with a nod.

"She is very pretty." Wyatt nodded in agreement.

"So why are you letting her walk away?" His mom asked with a gentle smile.

Wyatt bit his lip and nodded, turning around as his mom unfroze the scene. "Hey Ellie." He said, taking the steps two at a time as he descended them.

She turned around, looking unsure as he came to stop in front of her. "Ya know, the molding and the crownwork is all original. Restored, but original. Kinda hard to see all that from the sidewalk." Wyatt reasoned.

Ellie looked nervous. "I'm really… I'm not trying to intrude. I should probably get back."

"You came all the way our here for your dad's work and you can't even take time to do what you want to do?" Wyatt asked her.

Ellie paused, watching him carefully. Her eyes fell over his shoulder on the old house and his mother still at the doorway.

"Are you hungry? I just made paninis." His mom smiled.

"Are you gonna tell me what that is so I don't look stupid asking her?" Ellie whispered.

Wyatt laughed. "It's a French grilled cheese. C'mon." He said, gesturing for her to follow. He took a few steps, but she uneasily followed him up the walkway to the front door.

"I'm Piper, Wyatt's mom." She said with a smile.

"Ellie." She said quietly, looking unsure still.

"Do you go to school around here?" Piper asked and Wyatt nodded his thanks behind Ellie's back since his mom wasn't supposed to know she wasn't from around here.

"Uh, no. My dad travels for work, so I'm homeschooled." Ellie nodded, stepping into the foyer. She paused, looking at the walls and the little details Wyatt had always taken for granted.

"Do you like it? Being homeschooled?" Piper asked her.

Ellie shrugged, looking over at his mom. "It's alright. The traveling is kind of cool."

Piper nodded. "C'mon. We'll have dinner and then I'll give you a tour." She smiled.

"You don't have to parade me around your house. Just being inside is nice enough." Ellie told Piper, looking over at Wyatt.

Wyatt led Ellie through the dining room and into the kitchen. "Ellie, this is my little brother, Chris."

"Hey." Chris nodded, perched on the counter top on the other side of the kitchen.

"Christopher." Piper said warningly and Chris made a face at Wyatt and Ellie as he slid off the counter, moving to the breakfast nook.

"So Ellie, do you have any siblings?" Piper asked, going to work at the stove.

"Uh, no. It's just me and my dad and uncle." She said.

"Does your uncle work with your dad?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. We don't have any other family, so we stay pretty close together." Ellie told her, looking around the room.

Wyatt thought it was interesting to see her take in the house. He'd never met anybody who was so fascinated with a pile of bricks and boards.

"What does your dad and uncle do for work?" Piper asked.

"They're collectors. They find old trinkets and resell them. Coins, artifacts, guns, knives. Pretty much anything old with a history." Ellie explained.

"Well that's certainly interesting." Piper said and Wyatt smiled. His mother obviously hadn't expected something like that.

"Chris, would you go get your sister? Dinner is almost ready." Piper spoke up.

Chris looked up from his phone, saluting his mother as he stood and made his way out of the kitchen.

"Do you have any more brothers or sisters?" Ellie quietly asked Wyatt.

He smiled, shaking his head. "Just Chris and Melinda."

"They're both younger?" Ellie asked.

Wyatt nodded.

"That must be nice." Ellie nodded, looking around the kitchen again.

Chris returned with their sister and Melinda kind of paused with a smile on her face. "Hi, I'm Melinda."

"Ellie." She said with a smile.

"You're really pretty. Are you friends with Wyatt?" She asked.

Ellie blushed a little, ducking her head and nodding. "I guess so, yeah."

"He's kind of stupid sometimes, but he's a good person." Melinda nodded.

Ellie smiled and Wyatt shook his head. "I think most people can be that way though."

Melinda nodded. "Thanks for dinner, mom." She said Piper set a platter of sandwiches on the table and passed out plates.

"Of course, honey." She said, kissing Melinda's cheek. "You all worked hard today. Thank you."

"Where do you work?" Ellie asked, glancing from Piper to Wyatt.

"Mom owns a restaurant in town called Halliwell's. We all work there after school and on the weekends." Wyatt explained.

"Oh cool. That must be fun." Ellie said before biting into her sandwich.

"How is it?" Piper asked, watching Ellie carefully.

"This is really yummy. Thank you for feeding me." Ellie expressed, taking another bite.

"Oh it's no trouble. We usually have twelve or fifteen people around anyways." Piper said with a smile.

The front door opened and closed and Ellie looked alert, watching the opening of the kitchen that led into the dining room.

"Piper? Kids?" A man's voice called.

"In the kitchen." Piper called back with a smile, moving to meet the man in the dining room.

"Hey honey." The tall man said with a smile as he leaned in to kiss Piper.

"We have company. Wyatt made a new friend." Piper said, turning to move back into the kitchen, the man following him. "Ellie, this is my husband, Leo."

"A pleasure, sir." Ellie said, wiping her hands before standing and extending her hand to the older man.

Leo smiled a little bit, watching her as he shook her hand. "Firm shake." He commented and Wyatt watched their interaction carefully.

"My dad always told me nobody respects a person who can't shake hands." Ellie said, ducking her head like she was uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

Wyatt glanced at his mother, trying to silently ask what was going on.

"Was he military?" Leo asked, watching Ellie still.

"Uh, no. No, but my grandpa was. He was a Marine in the 108th." Ellie told him.

"You must get it from your dad, then." Leo said. Piper nudged him and Ellie looked a little confused. "Sorry. Uh, I was in the Army, a long time ago. You can always tell the kids who've got strict military parents." Leo said, gesturing loosely. "I was one too."

Ellie nodded. "I think my dad always felt like he served even though he didn't. It sounds stupid, but when you hear him talk, it makes a lot of sense." Ellie said, shrugging like she wasn't sure what to do.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. Please, sit." Leo said with a warm smile.

Wyatt glanced back at his mom who gave him a quick raise of the eyebrows before moving to the stove to make a sandwich for her husband.

"You okay?" Wyatt asked, looking over at Ellie.

"Uh, yeah." She said with a firm nod and a smile he could tell was fake. He watched her for a moment, noticing his dad glance back at her. "I um… it's stupid. It's just weird… being around a family this big." She said, giving a quiet chuckle.

"You don't have any brothers or sisters?" Melinda asked Ellie.

Ellie shook her head. "It's just me and my dad and uncle."

"What happened to your mom?" Chris asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"She uh…" Ellie pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his hands fidgeting a little. "She died." She said, glancing at Wyatt. He'd gathered as much from their previous encounter, but said nothing else.

"How?" Melinda asked.

Wyatt could see a streak of pain cross Ellie face for only a moment before it disappeared. Ellie opened her mouth when Piper beat her to the punch. "Melinda, that's not exactly something you ask people, sweetie. It's very difficult to lose a parent that young." Piper said, moving to gently squeeze Melinda's shoulder.

Ellie got the impression that Piper was talking from personal experience, not just in general.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Melinda apologized, looking back at her food.

"How about that tour?" Wyatt asked, rubbing his hands together as he stood, gathering his and Ellie's plates and taking them to the sink.

"Tour?" Leo asked Piper quietly.

"Ellie likes architecture and wanted the see the inside of the house." Piper quietly explained.

"No, it's fine. I should probably be getting back. My dad's gonna freak." Ellie said, standing and moving to the doorway of the kitchen.

"C'mon. One run through of the place. You don't have to stay for a couple hours. Just a few minutes." Wyatt told her.

"I mean… if it's okay." Ellie said, looking between Wyatt, and Piper and Leo.

"It's just fine, honey." Piper said with a smile.

"Where first?" Wyatt asked with a smile.

"Okay, this is a stupid question and it's really none of my business." Ellie said, taking a breath and glancing around the group. "But have you guys found the secret compartment in the stairs?"

Leo and Piper turned to look at Ellie before Wyatt turned to look at his mom. If anybody knew anything about the house, it was definitely Piper. "Secret… compartment?"

Ellie nodded, her whole body perking up with excitement. "Houses like these were used as speakeasies in the 20's during prohibition. To make sure they never had a bunch of liquor out at one time, a lot of people made secret compartments that could hold six or seven bottles of booze. I've never actually seen one, but this is the oldest house in the district."

Wyatt grinned, looking from Ellie to his parents. "How cool is that?"

Leo grinned. "Oh, that's cool."

"Okay, but don't go tearing up my staircase!" Piper said firmly, looking Leo, Wyatt and Ellie all in the eye so they understood the statement.

"I'll get the tools out of the truck." Leo said with a smile, heading for the front of the house.

"So where should this compartment be?" Wyatt asked, leading the way out of the kitchen to the staircase.

Ellie stood watching it for a moment like she was analyzing every dimple in the wood and every flaw in the floor. She moved up to the landing in the middle of the staircase, tossing the rug aside. Leo returned with a tool bag, standing below the two on the stairs. "Screwdriver?" Ellie asked, looking over her shoulder.

Leo dug for a flathead screwdriver before handing it to her. She turned it so it was facing up, the blunt end of the handle resting on the wood. She knocked around for a minute until there was a dull thud.

She knocked again, again hearing the dull thud before looking at Wyatt and Leo. "Did you hear that?"

Wyatt grinned back at his dad. Leo nodded like he couldn't believe it. "She's smart." He told Wyatt, who nodded back.

"Now, if the books are right…" She trailed off a little, knocking a little harder at the corners of the board. "We shouldn't have to rip this apart and Piper won't kill us." She said, looking back at the two boys.

"If we could avoid that." Wyatt told her with a smile.

"No kidding." Leo spoke, glancing over his shoulder.

Ellie knocked harder once more on the corner of the board before it rattled loose. She grinned, using the screwdriver to unwedge the board.

"It was never screwed down." Leo said, inspecting the board.

"No, it was cut to the perfect length. It should've just popped out. But the wood's swelled around the sides over time." Ellie told him, pointing to the four sides of the board.

Leo nodded like he hadn't noticed that before.

"What's in there?" Wyatt asked, leaning closer to her to try to see into the cavity.

Ellie smiled, reaching down into the hole to produce a dark bottle with a cork in the top, covered in spider webs. "A Chateau Roubaix, vintage 1911. Looks full too." She said, reading the label before handing it to Wyatt who in turn handed it to Leo. "And a…" She paused, eyes widening at the label. "Oh my god. This is a bottle of Jim Beam, 1918. The first year they started production."

"What? No way. That's gotta be worth bank." Wyatt said, examining the bottle.

"Did you find anything?" Piper asked, coming around the corner.

"Weren't you looking for this last week?" Leo asked, handing the bottle of wine to Piper.

"A Chateau Roubiax? From 1911? This was under our stairs?" Piper asked sounding shocked.

"How much does that go for?" Wyatt asked, looking at her.

Piper's eyes widened in surprise before squinting a little in concentration. "I found one on eBay for over a thousand dollars."

"How about a bottle of Jim Beam from the first year of production?" Leo asked with a smug smirk as he handed her the bottle of whiskey.

Piper carefully set the bottle of wine down. "I don't even know. There isn't any more in existence." She said. "A bottle from 1925 went for eight hundred dollars at an auction a few months ago. I'm sure this is worth more."

"It seems Wyatt's new friend has a knack." Leo told his wife.

"Sure as hell looked like guess work from here." Wyatt told Ellie pointedly.

Ellie smiled, shaking her head. "It's not guess work if you know what you're doing." She told him, giving him much the same look.

"You're a guesser." Wyatt told her.

She shook her head, handing him another bottle of wine. "I'm a knower. I don't have a bone in my body for guess work." She said, pulling out another bottle of whiskey.

"She knew well enough there would be a compartment there. I'd call it knowing." Piper chipped in.

"She likes you." Wyatt mock whispered, leaning closer to Ellie.

"Only because I found her a thousand dollar bottle of wine." Ellie murmured back to him.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's because you're smarter than me." Wyatt said with a nod.

"Well there's no questioning that." Leo spoke, giving a nudge to Wyatt to tell him he was joking.

Ellie shook her head, pulling out one more bottle to hand to Wyatt who handed it to Leo. She took the board and wedged it in as well as she could. Leo handed her the hammer to pound it back in flat before she stood, moving the rug to cover the landing.

"Alright, I really need to get out of here now." She said, looking down at the other three people occupying the stairs.

"But you didn't see the rest of the house." Wyatt protested.

"Well, maybe you can show it to me tomorrow. I'm sure my dad's about ready to chew my ass for the next week and a half." She spoke.

"You get a lot of ass chewings?" Leo asked carefully.

Ellie smiled at him. "He's not abusive, Mr. Halliwell. He just doesn't know what to do with somebody who's got the same strong will he does."

Leo nodded, ducking his head a little. "I didn't mean to-"

"No, please." Ellie waved it off. "I appreciate the concern." She smiled at him. "He was overprotective before my mom died. After she went, he got kind of paranoid, thinking the same thing might happen to me. And I believe anything's possible, so hey, it could happen. I could get hit by a bus crossing the street on my way home, or die in my sleep. I'm just trying to do the best with today, because that's as far as I've been promised."

Leo and Piper nodded, watching her a little bit. "Thank you for saving me a thousand dollars." Piper said, gesturing to the collection of wine bottles at the base of the stairs.

"My pleasure." Ellie said, moving down the stairs.

"You want me to drive you home?" Wyatt asked her, hands in his pockets.

Ellie shook her head. "No, I think I'm fine. I've taken up enough of your time this evening." She smiled, looking at each of them.

"It's really no trouble." Wyatt told her.

"It's getting dark. You shouldn't be out walking by yourself." Leo commented and Piper nodded.

"It's really kind of you guys to be worrying about me, but I'm scarier than anything that could pop out of the dark." Ellie smirked and Wyatt wanted to know exactly what she was talking about. She was five or six inches shorter than he was, and although she had a muscular build, she didn't exactly look like she could fend off a two hundred pound man on her own.

"At least give me a hug before you leave." Piper said, moving to hold her arms out.

Ellie looked unsure, but gave the woman a hug anyway. Wyatt watched her and could only wonder if she'd been given a hug in the last year or two, judging by her reaction. She looked uncomfortable, unsure of what to do, but relieved when it ended.

"You can come back anytime you want." Leo told her firmly.

"I appreciate the offer." She said with a nod before looking at Wyatt. "Thanks for finding me in the library. Best stroke of luck I've had yet." She said with a smile before quickly turning and moving for the front door.

"I'm not gonna lie, I think she's weird." Chris said, moving to come around the corner.

"There's something… off about her." Leo said, glancing over at the rest of the group.

"No, yeah. She's… weird." Chris said, like he didn't know how to put it into words.

"What did she mean, she's scarier than anything out in the dark?" Piper asked, curiously glancing around.

Wyatt moved to the front room, pulling the curtain back to watch her descend the driveway. She started to head back down the road when she stopped, a black car screeching to a stop. A man got out of the driver's side of the car and ran towards her. Wyatt tensed and could feel his mother's presence over his shoulder.

Another man got out of the passenger side of the car while the first man threw his arms around Ellie. Wyatt watched as she hugged him back, seeming to relish the contact. When the man pulled back, Wyatt couldn't hear the words, but could see his lips moving faster and his arms work animatedly.

Ellie shifted her weight, moving her hands a little before throwing a thumb back to the house.

The shorter of the two, the one who'd hugged her, looked up at the house to see Wyatt and Piper, who both waved, not sure what to do. Ellie talked some more before gesturing to the house and Wyatt could only imagine her telling him about the stash compartment in the stairs.

He looked a little pissed off, running his hand over his face before pointing at her while he talked. She nodded, hanging her head a little before looking back up at him. He nodded, taking her by the shoulder and pulling her close to his side as the three of them walked back to the car.

"What a piece of junk car." Chris murmured.

"I bet if you told her dad that, he'd be steaming at the ears." Leo commented.

"She's definitely hiding something." Wyatt said with a nod.


	3. Chapter 3

Ellie glanced back at the house as she climbed in the backseat of the old Chevy. She'd seen Wyatt and Piper at the window when her dad had pulled up, but she wasn't sure what to do about it. She'd explained why she'd been so late; finding the stash compartment and how she'd meant to be back earlier, but the idea of exploring the house was too tempting to pass up, which lead to another explanation of how she knew the occupants.

Her dad had been grateful to find her so easily and profusely apologized for yelling at her earlier. Although he never actually said he was sorry, she knew 'Dean speak' and was sure that her uncle had talked him into it. She wasn't going to be complaining, as she was thankful he was no longer mad.

In true Uncle Sam fashion, he dove into talking about the case to make them forgot they'd been arguing a few hours ago.

"It was good work, the research you did at the library." Sam said, glancing over his shoulders to let Ellie know he meant the words.

"Thanks." She said with a little smile.

"We still don't know exactly what this book of shadows is capable of though." Dean said, looking at his brother.

Sam shook his head. "You're right. The lore keeps mentioning that it's the source of the power, but is it an actual book? Like a spell book? Or is it metaphoric, just a point that they can channel through?"

"There was a couple more books at the library I didn't get to go through yet. I can go back tomorrow and do some more research if you'd like." Ellie volunteered.

"So," Dean started and Ellie wasn't totally sure she was going to like the question. "You gonna let us meet this Wyatt kid?"

Sam glanced over his shoulder back to Ellie, telling her he'd wanted to ask the same question.

"Uh… I mean, if you want to. You're probably gonna scare the crap outta him." Ellie commented.

"Good." Her father said with a nod.

"Why?" Sam asked, curiously turning around in his seat a little.

"His parents are very… laidback. Like, not that he runs all over and does whatever he wants. But he's got two siblings. So I think they're just… go with the flow kind of people." Ellie said, wondering if her father knew he was exactly the opposite. Dean Winchester was the kind of person to make his own road straight through instead of following the path fifteen hundred other people took.

Sam smirked, looking at Dean. "She's politely saying you're uptight and strict."

Ellie smiled at her uncle before glancing at her dad. "Yeah, well being a hippie parent doesn't exactly keep anybody alive." Dean said, obviously having taken the comment personally.

Ellie leaned forward and squeezed her dad's shoulder. "I think you're doing pretty good."

Dean looked unsure of the comment, reaching up to give her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and maneuvering the car into the motel parking lot.

* * *

Ellie shook her head, looking over the papers and books she'd scattered over the bed. Something wasn't adding up. She was missing something and it was going to drive her crazy.

"You've been looking at the same pile of papers for ten minutes." Sam commented.

"They're not just gonna arrange themselves and spell out what we need." Dean commented, looking through a book from the early 1900's about witches in San Francisco.

"It's like I'm missing the center piece of the puzzle. I've got all the edges, the little stuff," She said, sifting through the papers. "But I'm missing the big piece that goes in the middle."

Sam sighed, stretching his long arms. "How about you go back to the library? See if you can find anything in those books you didn't get to yesterday?"

Ellie nodded, her gaze still on the papers before she slid off the bed and shoved into her boots.

"Hey." Her dad said, making her look up at him. He stood woodenly, like he wasn't sure how to move his legs. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket; her cell phone, and shifted it in his hands before holding it out to her.

She carefully took the device from him without a word.

"I'm sorry I was so harsh you on. I know you think I'm a helicopter parent and I know you really just want time away from us every once in a while." He told her, gesturing to himself and Sam. "And I'm sorry I can't give it to you more often." He said, looking truly saddened. "But this is the only thing I've ever been good at." He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "And if I lost you to the life too, I don't know that I could come back from that."

Deep down inside, Ellie had always known that. After they'd found her mom and she'd been introduced to the life her father had grown up in, she'd known that was why he was always standing over her shoulder. She knew he'd take a bullet or five long before he'd let her do the same.

She nodded, looking up at him. She knew he was a better dad than a lot of people got. He didn't shelter her; he gave it to her the way it was and he never lied to her. He wasn't abusive, he didn't take after his father. He put her as far in front of himself as he could manage, every though it was still close enough to reach.

"I know that." She told him quietly. "You're doing the best you can. You're a good dad, even though you don't think so sometimes."

Dean scoffed. "What? I'm a great dad." He told her, but she knew the underlying tone in his voice was unsure. She knew he beat himself up ten times more than any other living person ever could. She knew his insides were a wreck after yesterday and she knew his inner turmoil showed through in the liquor bottles he'd tried to hide in the trash can.

"Yeah, you are." She told him sincerely, making him pause a little. He ducked his head before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. She hugged him back and he was all hunter mode as soon as he stepped away.

"Alright, go to the library. See if there's anything we're missing on this book of shadows. See if you can dig up anything about a…" He paused, moving to the table. "Melinda Warren. Some of this stuff keeps referring back to her, like she was the first of the line or something."

Ellie scribbled in her notebook so she wouldn't forget. "Warren. Got it." She said, heading for the door.

"Eleanor?"

Her dad's use of her proper name made her pause. Her mom was the only person who ever called her Eleanor. Her dad, since she'd been able to talk, had called her Ellie. She looked back at him carefully.

He cleared his throat, shuffling his feet. "And if you… if you want to take a couple hours to do that, um… you can do that. Just uh… just call me? If you leave the library. Let me know if you're going off with that Wyatt kid."

She smiled gently back at him. "You really are a great dad." She told him with a nod, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Ellie sighed, looking around the pile of books. Why couldn't she just figure this out? It was never this difficult. She was good at research, she loved doing it and she loved that her dad let her help. But here she was; hip high in books about lore and she couldn't find much of anything she didn't already know. It was like the legend of this book of shadows had been wiped from the books.

She knew it wasn't possible, but it was the only conclusion she could come up with.

"Back at it, I see."

Ellie looked up to see a tall guy with dirty blonde hair and a knowing smirk. She smiled up at him. "Stalking me again, I see."

"Actually, if you remember correctly, it was you who was standing outside _my_ house." Wyatt said.

She conceived, nodding. "I guess that was right."

"This is turning into a hell of a research project." He told her, squatting down to take in the books she'd scattered around her.

She gave a kind of choked chuckle. "You have no idea."

Wyatt watched her for a moment, making her feel a little uncomfortable. What was he looking for? "You really do this all the time."

She nodded. "I wasn't telling you that just for the giggles."

Wyatt smirked. "No, I guess not."

"Whatcha up to?" She asked, leaning back against the wall and looking up at him.

He shrugged. "I may or may not have been wandering around hoping you'd show up again. Probably not, but there's always that possibility."

"Very non-committable stalking, I'd say." Ellie said with a smile.

Wyatt shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a romantic."

Ellie smirked, grinning up at him.

"So," Wyatt said. "My mom's in love with you." He was obviously trying to sound nonchalant, but was failing miserably.

"Oh yeah?" Ellie asked.

Wyatt nodded. "Asked if I could invite you back, in case you know of a place they stashed diamonds during World War Two or something." He shrugged.

Ellie grinned at him, ducking her head a little as a gentle blush graced her cheeks. "They uh… didn't generally use metro houses to hide diamonds."

Wyatt smiled. "I knew you'd say something like that."

Ellie shook her head a little, looking back up at him. "Already know me so well?"

Wyatt shook his head firmly. "Not really. But we could get ice cream and you could tell me your life story."

"I um…" Ellie started, looking down at the books around her. "I really… I kinda need to finish this research first."

"Well, can I help? If it'll make it go faster." Wyatt said, moving to sit on the floor next to her.

"You don't have to." She told him.

He shook his head, pulling one of the books on the floor onto his lap. "Nah, I want to. Besides," He said, leaning a little closer. "I think this stuff is really cool, but I get funny looks all the time when I talk about it."

"Me too." Ellie said with a smile.

Wyatt grinned. "Alright, so what exactly are we looking for?"

Ellie brought up her notebook, having taken notes from the other books on things she thought would be important. "So, online there was a couple mentions of this Book of Shadows. It's supposed to be the all-time power house for witches powers everywhere, right? But I can't find anything about it in any of these other books." Ellie told him.

She went about shuffling through a book to find one with the blank sections she'd found before and because of this, she'd completely missed Wyatt's shocked expression.

"Like, look at this." She said, holding up one of the books about spell casting. "There's three-quarters of a page that's blank. It's like… somebody just erased it from ever being there." She told him quietly, looking over at him.

He quickly arranged his face to be more pensive than stunned. Of course, Wyatt knew that his father had once wiped all the books in California from anything mentioning anything too closely resembling real witchcraft. "That's weird." He commented, taking the book from her.

"Okay, good. Because I thought I was going crazy or something." She said, relaxing against the wall a little bit.

"No, that's insane. How can a printed book by like… wiped clean?" He asked, flipping through the book to see if there were any other pages blanked out. Of course, he was doing it for show.

"But I lucked out and found this." Ellie said, pulling a history book closer to her. "There was this lady, right? Her name was Melinda Warren and some of the lore I keep finding has referred to her a couple times. So… I don't know, maybe she's important?"

Ellie wasn't going to go and play all her cards; she just didn't want to do this bookwork by herself and if Wyatt was willing to help her, she had to make it look like a real research project.

Wyatt looked at the book for a moment. "Well if she's mentioned more than once, she's gotta be somebody's important." He nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"I think she was like the first of a coven or something." Ellie told him.

"I think… I think I heard about her once." Wyatt said, picking up one of the other books and flipping through. Ellie watched as he scanned the pages before pausing. "Here." He said, handing the book over.

"Melinda Warren was burned at the stake." Ellie murmured, reading the entry in the book about how she'd been accused of witchcraft. The rest of her family scattered, including her daughter, after Melinda had been accused, fearing being accused as well. Her daughter must've continued the line.

"Well, that was enough bookwork for one day. You wanna get ice cream?" Wyatt asked with a smile.

Ellie grinned back at him. "I would love to, but my dad's gonna rail me if I don't finish this."

Wyatt sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and looking over at her. "Your dad's uptight."

Ellie smirked. "I told him your parents were more laidback and he called them hippie parents."

Wyatt scoffed. "Hippies. Hardly. If you'd ever seen my mom mad… It probably makes your dad look like a kitten."

Ellie knew there was no way Piper could get madder than her dad, but she wasn't going to argue so she just shook her head.

"Alright, alright. How about this?" Wyatt spoke, making her look back over at him. "I help you gather enough info to make your dad happy, and then you get ice cream with me? And if we have enough time, you can come back to the house for a real tour."

Ellie smiled, thinking about it for a second. "Yeah, alright. That sounds nice." She conceded.

He grinned, pulling another book into his lap. "Alright, so what are we looking for?"

* * *

An hour later, they sat at the ice cream parlor. Ellie was telling Wyatt stories about her family, which she'd broken down and left out the important details like hunting, and Wyatt was telling Ellie about how he lucked out in not getting a name that started with P, as was the family tradition with the girls.

When they'd finished, Ellie reached for her phone. She hadn't told her dad about leaving the library, but she sent him a text, saying she was going over to Wyatt's to get a tour of the house.

Her phone dinged and Wyatt paused his story about one of his aunt's. "Your dad?"

Ellie nodded, quickly reading the text that said 'be safe.' "Yeah, he wanted me to let him know if you swept me away from the library."

"He doesn't trust me." Wyatt said with a nod.

Ellie smirked, shaking her head. "My dad doesn't trust anybody but my uncle. My mom used to say it was one of his fatal flaws."

"Fatal flaws?" Wyatt asked, looking over at her as they walked.

Ellie nodded. "My mom used to believe everybody had a fatal flaw. If you found out what a person's fatal flaw was, and you could live with it, you could stay friends or be with them forever. If you couldn't overlook it, then there was no point."

"What's yours?" Wyatt asked.

Ellie chuckled uncomfortably, running a hand over her arm as they continued the walk down the road. "Um… I'm not sure, I guess. I don't think about it a lot."

"Mine's probably second chances." Wyatt said with a nod.

"Why so?" Ellie asked.

"I see the good in everybody, even if they're bad. Don't get me wrong, I don't associate with bad people." He said with a chuckle. "But I could probably overlook anybody's fatal flaw, give them a second chance."

"Well, you'll have to tell me what mine is when you see it and choose to overlook it." Ellie commented as they reached the bottom of the walkway for the manor.

"Alright, so where do you want to start? Or should we just start at the bottom and work up?" Wyatt asked, holding open the door for her.

Ellie paused, seeing two new faces in the dining room. Both women had been arguing when the door had opened, but had since stopped and turned to the newcomer.

"Aunt Paige. Aunt Phoebe." Wyatt grinned. "When did you get back?"

"Just about an hour ago." The brunette said with a smile. "Who's your friend?"

"Yeah, this makes the… second time we've ever seen Wyatt bring home a girl." The red head commented, moving forward to stand with Wyatt and the brunette.

"Uh, this is Ellie. She's new in town and in love with the house." Wyatt said to the two before looking at Ellie. "This is my Aunt Paige," He said, gesturing to the redhead. "And my Aunt Phoebe." He said, gesturing to the brunette.

"Ellie! You found the wine under the stairs!" Phoebe said with a grin.

Ellie ducked her head, feeling a little embarrassed. "I uh, yeah I guess I did."

"She really is shy." Paige commented, mock whispering to Phoebe.

"Don't be rude." Phoebe said, swatting at Paige before turning to Ellie. "So you like the house?"

Ellie nodded quickly, glancing around the foyer. "It's really beautiful."

"Ya know, Wyatt was born right here in the house." Phoebe commented.

Wyatt's face went slack before turning to his aunt. "What are you doing? She doesn't need to know that."

"Actually," Ellie cleared her throat. "It's scientifically proven that if a person was born in a house, and then lives there throughout their teenage years, they tend to be more emotionally stable, have a stronger will so they're less likely to be influenced by outside forces, and they are very family orientated."

Wyatt slowly turned to Ellie like he wasn't sure what to say. But Phoebe grinned. "That explains me too." She said, elbowing Wyatt's side. "I like her. Can I keep her?"

"What? No. I saw her first." Wyatt defended.

Paige smirked and shook her head. "It's like she's a Halliwell, but smarter."

Phoebe scoffed. "And what does that make her then? A Matthews?" She said, rolling her eyes and looking at Wyatt like she couldn't believe the comment.

"What is your last name? Those things hold all kinds of power." Paige said, looking at the brunette.

"Winchester." Ellie said with a nod. "Like the gun."

Phoebe and Paige stiffened. "Winchester. Like…" Paige started before Phoebe waved her off.

"Don't mind her. She's new to the family and she likes to talk a lot about stuff she doesn't know anything about." Phoebe said, giving Paige a pointed look.

Wyatt watched his aunts carefully, trying to decide what was going on.

"How about that tour? C'mon. Have you seen the upstairs yet?" Phoebe asked, gesturing Ellie closer.

"What's going on?" Ellie whispered to Wyatt as Phoebe led the way upstairs and Paige moved towards the kitchen.

"Good question. When I know, I'll let you know." He whispered back, following her up the stairs.

Ellie nodded, carefully watching Wyatt's Aunt Phoebe, who gave a tour of the upstairs like it was part of the Smithsonian. Ellie enjoyed her flare for the dramatic, but she remembered the way her and the other aunt had stiffened upon hearing her name. That's obviously what it'd been, her last name, causing them to go into a panic.

And they wouldn't have gone into a panic hearing that she was a Winchester unless… But Wyatt's family was normal. They weren't evil or whatever… Were they? She'd never seen such normal supernaturals, if they were.

"Did you want to see the attic?" Phoebe asked.

"What? No. She can't see the attic." Wyatt said, looking at Phoebe before turning to Ellie. "There's… rats, in the attic. Thankfully they haven't spread, but the exterminator should be coming tomorrow or the day after."

Ellie watched him carefully. "There's something in the attic you don't want me to see."

"What? No." He scoffed. "That's insane. I'd hate for you to get lime disease."

Ellie looked at Phoebe. "I'd love to see the attic."

Wyatt's face kind of drained as he looked over at his aunt, who was already on her way up the second set of stairs. What was she _doing?_ The Book of Shadows was in the attic and Wyatt had conveniently not told his mother that the girl he'd met at the library was doing research on _him_ and _his family._

If she saw the Book of Shadows, the game was over. She'd know he was a witch and he didn't know why Aunt Paige or Aunt Phoebe froze up when they heard Ellie's last name, but Wyatt wasn't stupid. He knew it meant something and as soon as Ellie was out of the house, he was going to have to ask them.

But for now, he had to make sure Ellie didn't see the Book.

Phoebe gave a bunch of little tidbits of information as she swept through the attic and when Ellie was examining his aunt's old doll house, he waved his hand, and blue and white light surrounded the book and he orbed it out of the attic.

Ellie turned around and paused, looking towards the stand the Book had previously been sitting on. "There… wasn't there a book here a minute ago?"

"Book?" Phoebe asked, coming closer to Ellie.

"A big book. On this stand." She said, looking between Phoebe and Wyatt.

"Wyatt!" Piper's voice could be heard from downstairs.

"I'll be right back!" Wyatt said, moving out of the attic and down the stairs.

"What is the Book of Shadows nearly doing in my soup?" Piper asked, pointing to the empty gas burner that the book had landed on, right next to the burner with a pot of soup at a rolling boil.

"Aunt Phoebe took Ellie into the attic and didn't give me time to hide the book. I had to orb it out when she turned her back. You know I'm still working on the specific location orbing!" Wyatt said, moving close to his mother to hopefully keep the conversation quiet.

"Why is Phoebe showing the attic off?" Piper murmured. "When did Ellie come over?"

"I ran into her at the library again. Do you know anything about a Winchester?" He asked.

Piper gasped, turning to Wyatt. "What?"

"Ellie said her last name was Winchester and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige freaked." He said. "Why? Where have you heard the name before?"

"Oh my god. There's a Winchester in the house. We have to get her out. Tell her I came down with Mongolian Flu because of the dish I'm making tonight." Piper said, turning and pushing her son towards the door.

"What are you talking about? Why?" Wyatt asked, turning around to look at his mom. He'd never saw her look as worried as she did now.

"Grams always told us we had to watch out for hunters, like supernatural hunters. Demons and witches and vampires and the whole shebang." Piper whispered. "She ran into one, when we were young. John Winchester."

Wyatt's look of surprise was only increased when he heard footsteps walking through the foyer into the dining room. He turned towards the door and flicked his hand at the Book of Shadows, still on the stove top. He'd tried to get it to go into the attic, but he knew it probably wouldn't end there.

Ellie and Phoebe came around the corner the next moment, with Paige trailing behind into the kitchen.

"Hey. You alright?" Ellie asked, looking between Wyatt and Piper.

"Yeah." Piper said, with her 'I hate talking to customers at the restaurant' smile. "I wanted to make sure Wyatt was driving Chris and Melinda to school tomorrow because I have to be at the restaurant early."

Ellie nodded a little, knowing she didn't believe Piper, but not sure why Piper would be lying about such a thing.

"So what about your dad? Heard he's kind of uptight. You're not gonna get in trouble hanging around us, right?" Phoebe asked, a hesitant smile on her face.

Ellie raised an eyebrow at her, glancing at Wyatt. "Well, I mean. I told him I was hanging with Wyatt."

"And your dad let you?" Phoebe said with a little bit of a relieved smile.

"Phoebe, did you try the soup?" Piper asked harshly, giving her sister a look who moved over to the pot.

Ellie gave Wyatt another look as they started harshly whispering, just quiet enough she couldn't hear what they were saying over the bubbling soup. "I uh… should get going. I've been gone a while." Ellie said to no one in particular, throwing her thumb over her shoulder and moving out of the doorway.

"What? No. Ellie." Wyatt said, moving after her. He got to the foyer before he caught her. "You don't have to go."

"What was that?" Ellie asked, sounding exhausted. "I know I'm just the freak who found some wine bottles under the stairs, but they couldn't even leave the room to talk about me."

"Ellie, I swear. That's not what this is." Wyatt said, frantically trying to figure out a way to get her to stay.

"Then what is it, Wyatt? They heard my name and all but jumped out of their skin. I wouldn't be surprised if they…" She said, waving her hand around before she paused, straightening up a little and looking at him a little different.

"Were witches?" Wyatt asked quietly, hoping she wasn't going to shoot him.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're all…" Ellie murmured, like she wanted him to deny it.

Wyatt just nodded. "I'm the first ever witch/white lighter combo meal." He said with a shrug.

"What the hell is a white lighter?" Ellie murmured, watching him carefully.

He looked up and suddenly he was surrounded by white and blue light until it consumed him and he disappeared.

Ellie stood there, watching the room carefully.

Suddenly, the white and blue light appeared and disappeared, leaving Wyatt standing only a few feet from her.

Ellie jumped at his sudden proximity. "What the hell?" She choked, backing up away from him. Suddenly, she realized that if they were all witches, she was dead.

"Ellie, wait!" Wyatt said and she jumped away from his hand, reaching for her. Wyatt knew they were different kinds of people when he'd first seen her sitting on the floor of the library, but having her move away from him broke his heart a little. "Please, you don't have to go."

"So what? I can be the next sacrifice? Put a little hex bag in my mouth like a stuffed pig?" Ellie spat.

Blue and white light gathered behind Ellie and Paige was suddenly standing there. "Well, that's rude."

Ellie jumped, moving away from Paige. If Wyatt had to describe the look he saw on her face, he thought he'd seen something similar from a caged dog ready to attack. She frantically reached into the waistband of her jeans and pulled out a silver knife, brandishing it towards Paige. Ellie knew silver wouldn't hurt a witch, but considering it was the only weapon she had, it made her feel better.

"We're not going to hurt you." Piper said, coming around the corner from the kitchen. "Unless you feel the need to hurt us."

Ellie whirled around. She was frantically looking for an exit strategy when the room froze. Wyatt looked over at his mom, silently pleading with her. "Just let me talk to her."

"Wyatt, she's a hunter. You're a witch. Hunter's kill witches for sport." Piper said with a bitterness in her voice he rarely heard.

Wyatt shook his head. "Mom, she's not like that. Look at her, she's scared. You sectioned her off so she's got no way out. She's going to try to fight, even if she doesn't want to, because she's convinced we're about to carve her up."

"Some people can't be talked to, Wyatt." Phoebe said, moving close to Piper.

"And some people can. Are you going to stand there and tell them that if you had the opportunity to talk to a hunter, to try to explain, that you wouldn't take it?" Wyatt asked, standing his ground.

"She's dangerous." Paige spoke.

"You can heal yourself. Silver isn't going to kill you. She's terrified." Wyatt objected.

"And what if she brings her family back, huh?" Piper asked. "You know she's too young to be doing this on her own."

Wyatt looked back at the human girl, a look of deep set fear in her eyes, like she'd been backed into a corner she should've known was there. Wyatt couldn't help but remember the joy he'd seen when she'd smiled at a joke he'd made, or the look on concentration on her face while she paced the stairs hoping to find a hidden wine cellar. He looked back at his mom.

"If I'd wandered into a hunter's motel room on accident, and they all cornered me and it looked like that's how I was gonna die, wouldn't you want them to try to talk to me about what was going on? Wouldn't you want them to be better than leaving me dead on the floor?" Wyatt asked, looking his mother in the eye.

Wyatt could see Piper deflate a little and he knew she was conjuring up the image of his dead body on the floor of some cheap motel. Piper looked over at Phoebe and Paige. "Hide. Within ear shot in case something happens, but he's got to talk to her." She said, waving her hand for the other two to follow her.

Ellie unfroze in front of him as his mom and aunts disappeared. Ellie went from looking scared to glancing around confused before he saw angry cross her features. "Freeze me one more freaking time and I'm gonna stab you for the fun of it!"

"I didn't… Mom did." He said slowly. "Again?"

"You froze me the first time I met your mom on the front steps. I started to walk away and you weren't in the same place you were before! I knew I wasn't crazy." Ellie said, her words getting heated.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lied to you, but I can't just go around telling normal people I'm a witch." Wyatt told her.

"So what? You saw me researching… _you_ at the library and you thought, 'hey, let's just have some fun with the nerd'? 'Let's just bat her around like a mouse until she likes us then we'll stuff her and eat her'?" Ellie asked, waving the knife a little and Wyatt recognized the motions from when her dad had been talking to her after she left the last time.

"What? No! We're not cannibals! We don't sacrifice people and we definitely don't eat people!" Wyatt spoke.

"It doesn't make you a cannibal if you're not human, Wyatt." Ellie told him sharply.

Wyatt moved up close to her, taking her hand quickly despite the fact she tried to push away from him. He pressed the palm of her hand to his chest, watching her face carefully. "Do you feel that?" He asked, as she still tried feebly to get away from him. "That's my heart beat, Ellie. If you cut me, I bleed. If you stick my hand in the fire, I'll burn, alright?"

Ellie seemed to slowly calm down the longer her hand was pressed against his chest. She looked up at him, trying to see something in him that said if he was telling the truth or not.

"I know that this isn't what you're used to. I know hunter's kill because they feel like they've got to get rid of the evil in the world. And there _is_ evil in the world, Ellie. Demons and warlocks and vampires and a bunch of other endless evils." He told her. "But me and my family aren't evil."

Ellie's breathing slowed and evened out, like she was focused solely on what he was talking about, not where she was or what else had happened.

"You said…" Wyatt started. "You said your mom died. Something killed her, didn't it?"

Ellie stared at a spot on Wyatt's chest, just right of where their hands set before she nodded slowly. "We were camping in the woods outside of Mesa, Colorado. That's where we lived." Her voice was small, like she was scared of the words she spoke. "A wendigo got into the tent at night and took her. We didn't find her for almost a week. And you could…" Her breath got caught in her throat. "You couldn't even recognize her anymore."

Wyatt set his hand on the side of Ellie face, gently brushing at her cheek as a stray tear fell. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."

Ellie's gaze slowly lifted to look up at him. "You're not gonna hurt me." It wasn't as if she was talking to Wyatt directly, more like she needed to hear the words out loud for herself.

Wyatt shook his head. "We will absolutely not hurt you."

Another tear slowly trickled down Ellie's face until Wyatt's thumb caught it. "I've made a real mess for you."

Wyatt smirked down at her. "Believe it or not, we usually find our own."

Ellie gave one dry chuckle and a nod, like she knew the feeling before she looked back up at Wyatt and fear filled her eyes again. "My dad and Uncle Sam. I told them about the Book of Shadows. That's the key to your witch powers isn't it?"

Wyatt nodded silently, not sure what to say.

"Shit." She said, pulling away from Wyatt, fear still gripping her. "Shit." She said again, a little louder. "I told them everything, Wyatt. I told them everything I found in those research books. They think you're the standard kind of witch trash. That's why we're here, Wyatt. We're on a hunting trip." She told him, wondering if he understood the depth of what she was saying.

"But they don't know it's me." He told her and slowly watched her body relax a little bit.

Ellie nodded. "Right, you're right." She sighed. Her phone rang, making her jump. She seemed to pale, looking at the screen before looking at Wyatt. She ducked her head and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Ellie? Where are you?" Dean asked on the other side of the phone, sounding worried.

"Is something wrong? You said I could be out for a couple hours?" Ellie said, bringing her thumb nail up to her mouth to nibble on the end of it.

"Ellie, are you still with Wyatt?" Dean asked hurriedly.

"What? Yeah. Why?" She asked.

"Ellie, honey, you have to get out of there. Ellie, listen to me. Wyatt's a witch and you have to get out of there." Dean's voice was urgent and it made Ellie's heart race. "Where are you?"

Ellie looked up at Wyatt. The look he gave her; she couldn't place it because she'd never seen it before, but she knew this was a split second decision that was going to change everything. She wanted to just blurt out that she was at his house, standing in his foyer. But it felt wrong.

"We're at the ice cream parlor, it's on the corner of Eighth and Washington." Ellie spoke, watching Wyatt.

"Don't go anywhere with him, Ellie. Please." Dean begged. "Just stay there, I'm comin'." And the line went dead.

Ellie pulled the phone from her ear. "He knows."

"He knows?" Wyatt asked, feeling his heart drop a little.

Ellie nodded, her eyes slowly burning from the tears that were building. "Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Wyatt said, closing the gap between them and pulling her into a hug. "It's alright. We'll figure it out."

"What about a memory spell?" Phoebe asked, jumping out from around the corner.

"Personal gain." Piper and Paige said at the same time, looking at Phoebe.

Ellie gently pulled herself away from Wyatt's embrace, suddenly feeling self-conscious for standing so close to him around his family.

The three sisters launched into a discussion going back and forth, trying to decide if they could pull of a memory spell if they had Ellie in mind, because then it wasn't for personal gain, or if they could whip up a potion in enough time to do anything with.

Ellie cleared her throat loudly, much in the way her Uncle Sam did when her father went off on a tirade. "It's not gonna work." She spoke quietly.

The four of them looked between her and each other. "Why not?" Phoebe asked gently.

Ellie shook her head, trying to decide if she should tell them. "My dad is a good man, he's a good dad, as good as he can be. But when it comes to the bad stuff, the evil things…" She shook her head a little. "He's like a diesel train. He doesn't stop."

"You can't talk to him? I mean, he's human. Humans change their minds all the time." Paige said.

"My dad's the least human human on the face of the earth. He's died and come back. He watched my grandpa die, he watched my grandma die. He saw my mom carved up like Thanksgiving dinner, and he's watched my uncle die a time or two. None of those deaths were natural causes. Evil caused every one. And if there's one ounce of his being that thinks you're evil…"

"Then I guess we're gonna have to convince him we're not." Wyatt said, standing a little straighter.

"We're what? No. You're not involved." Piper said sternly.

"Mom, it's a little late for that. I'm as involved as everybody else." Wyatt spoke up.

Blue and white light slowly gathered in the room until Ellie jumped as Leo appeared. "Sorry, I was listening in. I orbed Melinda and Chris to Phoebe's place in New York. The brothers are on their way."

Ellie shook her head, whether she couldn't believe the situation she was in, or she was condemning them, Wyatt wasn't sure. "Do you all have powers?"

"Yeah, we do." Piper told her quietly.

"I'm really good at screwing things up, but I outdid myself this time." Ellie murmured, scrubbing her hands over her face before something like resolve set in her. "Alright, so we've got like ten minutes until they realize I'm not out for ice cream. Another ten before the GPS gets a lock." She said, taking her phone out of her pocket and pulling the battery. "I've only been researching this crap for a week, but a memory spell is probably too volatile. He might forget about me and Uncle Sam. What about…" She paused, trying to think. "Isn't there like… something kind of protection spell? A barrier so they can't get into the house?"

"What about the cloaking spell?" Wyatt asked, looking between the rest of his family.

"Can we cloak the whole house?" Phoebe asked, looking between her sisters.

"I don't see why not." Piper said.

"Alright, I'm on it." Phoebe said and Paige followed her up the stairs and out of sight.

"I'm really sorry about all this." Piper spoke quietly, looking at Ellie.

Ellie gave a hopeless shrug that tugged at Wyatt's heart. "I don't know why you're apologizing when it's my fault."

"It's not your fault. You didn't mean to." Leo told her firmly.

Ellie shrugged again, crossing her arms over her chest and ducking her head. "Guess it doesn't really matter either way."

"We're gonna figure it out." Wyatt said and Ellie realized it was the same gentle manner his mother spoke in, trying to calm the situation down.

"Don't… don't do that. Don't lie to me now." Ellie told him sternly, giving him a little shake of her head.

"Ellie, I promise. It'll be alright." Wyatt said.

But he could tell he'd said the wrong thing. Ellie worked her jaw before looking up at him, irritation dancing among her features before she turned the look on Piper and Leo. "You don't get it. You have jobs and lives and you're in love and you have kids." Ellie told them. "But we don't. We don't get to. Saving people, hunting things, losing the ones you love, it's the family business. I'm the fifth generation, alright? This isn't some hobby we do on the weekends, that we work around our nine to fives."

Ellie was struck with the vast contrast in hers and Wyatt's lives and it almost made her hurt. She'd liked Wyatt; he was funny and smart and didn't think she was crazy for researching witches as a homeschool project in a city she'd never been to before. And he'd opened his home to her and his family was nice.

But no matter how badly Ellie wanted to have something, anything, with Wyatt, at that moment, she realized she couldn't even be his friend. As soon as they figured this out, they'd have to part ways and never see each other again, and that was if both of them made it out alive.

"You could have that too; a life, a family, a regular job." Leo spoke.

Ellie shook her head. "It's one of those unwritten rules you have to abide by. You can't use magic for personal gain and I can't have a life that doesn't include killing some evil son's a bitches."

Piper smirked, although Wyatt knew she disapproved of the language. "That's not written in stone."

"I like to think we make our own way, we carve our own path. But I believe things happen for a reason. My mom died because I was meant to be a hunter and that was the only way to get my dad back in the fight. Every time I try to diverge from the path, I'm drug back in." Ellie told her with a sad smile.

Wyatt watched Ellie for a long moment and he realized that the same way he'd been born a witch, she'd been born a hunter; she just figured it out later than he had. Their paths were meant to cross and he didn't know for what purpose, but he hoped it was a good one.

Leo looked between Wyatt and Ellie. "I'm gonna see if I can see them, figure out where they are." He said and he orbed away.

"I'll go check on Phoebe and Paige." Piper said, shuffling her feet before moving up the stairs.

Ellie watched her leave, glancing around the foyer and Wyatt realized she was looking everywhere but at him. He shuffled closer to her, gently taking her hand in his. It was a slow reaction, but when she finally looked up at him, he saw the same look of fear.

"Tell me." He murmured gently, trying to piece together what she was thinking that made her so scared.

"I… I don't want you to die for me." She said quietly, looking away from him again.

Wyatt carefully set his finger under her chin, guiding her gaze back up to his and he smiled tenderly. "Nobody's gonna die tonight."

Ellie's face showed she didn't believe him, but she gripped his hand a little harder than she had been before. "I really hope you're right."

"Incoming!" Leo yelled, suddenly appearing.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all ran down the stairs as the front door splintered open to reveal two angry looking men.

"Dad! No!" Ellie shouted, holding up her hand as Dean pointed his pistol at Wyatt, Sam's gun trained on one of the other Halliwells.

"Don't touch her, prick or I swear to God, I'm gonna paint this room with your brains." Dean spoke.

Ellie moved slowly to stand in front of Wyatt, her hand still out. "Dad, please. Don't do this. We gotta talk about this."

"Ellie, move." Dean said sternly.

"No!" She exclaimed and Wyatt could see Dean tense.

"Did they freakin' mind controlling her?" Sam murmured, his eyes still on whoever his gun was pointed at.

"Dad, you've got to listen to me. They aren't evil. I swear it, dad. Please, they're not evil." Ellie begged.

"Definitely mind control." Dean murmured to his brother. "Alright, fix my kid or yours is getting a bullet through his left eye." Dean yelled.

"No, dad. I'm fine. Look at me. Eleanor Grace Winchester, born November 9th. I hate Chinese food, I'm allergic to wool and I need you to listen to me." Ellie said, an edge of desperation in her voice.

Dean shifted, like he wasn't sure what to do. "Dean?" Sam asked, obviously looking unsure. "Shut up, Sammy." Dean murmured.

"Okay, yes, dad. Yes, they're witches. All of them except Leo. He… orbs. I don't know how it works, okay?" Ellie said as Dean's face contorted in confusion, risking a glance at Leo. "You're not paying attention. They're good people, dad. They've got nine to fives, they go to school, they're in soccer, and they're not gonna kill us and eat us."

"Dean?" Sam asked, his eyes shifting from one person to the next, not sure which one he should be watching.

"Your daughter is very smart, Mister Winchester." Piper spoke up.

"Don't tell me about my kid! I know that!" Dean barked, glaring at her before the look was turned back on Ellie and Wyatt.

"Dad. If you never take my word on anything ever again as long as I live, fine." Ellie said, slowly moving towards Dean, still staying in front of Wyatt. "But you've got to trust me on this. How long have we been standing here? Even if you count me, we're out numbered five to three. If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead."

A muscle in Dean's jaw twitched, his whole body tensing up again as he shook his head just barely. "Eleanor, I can't do that."

"Ellie." Wyatt said just barely loud enough to be heard. He didn't like the way this was going; Dean was ready to pull the trigger at any second.

"Don't you talk to her, you evil son of a bitch!" Dean roared, moving the gun.

Ellie took a step back as Dean squeezed the trigger. The world slowed. Wyatt reached for Ellie, knowing she'd moved into the way of the bullet. He reached out for her, trying to shield her from the blast. She took a step back, eyes wide with fear. Wyatt was almost to her, the shield starting around her head when the force of the impact pushed her backwards into his arms.

Sam moved closer to the stairs and the other four, shouting at them not to move. Wyatt encased Ellie and himself in an orb shield as her shirt started to turn red. Wyatt could feel Dean being deflected from the shield as he tried to touch it.

Ellie's eyes opened a little wider than they normally were as her gaze found him. Wyatt was mumbling about how she had to hold on, how she had to stay with him. But she smiled gently, her eyes fixed on only him. Wyatt felt Dean being deflected off the shield again.

"Your eyes are really pretty, Wyatt." She told him, her eyes still wide.

"And you can stare at them as long as you want, alright?" Wyatt said, his hands shaking as he held them over the spot where her shoulder met her neck. There was so much blood. His hands started to light up, but the light fizzled out, not being able to repair the damage. He wasn't strong enough to keep the barrier going and heal her, but he couldn't let the barrier down until he fixed the wound.

"Dad!" Wyatt yelled, turning to his father. Wyatt knew he couldn't hear him through the shield, but he had to try. Leo nodded, holding his hand up and creating a barrier around Wyatt's shield. Wyatt let his shield fall, quickly moving his hands to Ellie's neck.

She smiled up at him, her eyes barely staying open. "I was really hoping we could make out after this was all over. I guess… that's not… gonna…" She murmured, her eyes slowly slipping closed.

Wyatt's hands were shaking still, but they were fizzling out. His power was trying to heal her, but he couldn't. He shook his hands hard before moving them back to her neck, almost pressing against the skin. She was losing so much blood and Wyatt's vision blurred.

Hands on his shoulders pulled him away and he saw his dad leaning down, the barrier now gone. Leo's hands moved over her neck and Wyatt couldn't see her chest rise and fall anymore. His mom was on the ground with him, pulling him tightly against her as he watched his dad struggle, begging him to save her.

"If you want her to live, come here." Leo's voice commanded, looking over at Dean.

Dean moved out of Sam's grasp, falling to his knees on the other side of her. Leo took Dean's hand and held it over Ellie with his own. His hands lit up like they were supposed to and Wyatt's breath caught in his throat as he watched. It was slow, but after another moment, the wound stitched itself back together, leaving no trace of the hole she'd had only moments ago.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Dean asked, looking between his daughter and the man that was supposed to be healing her.

"I don't… I don't know." Leo said, watching her carefully.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Dean spat.

"She's alive, I healed her, but she's not waking up." Leo explained, looking unsure.

"You've healed people in a coma before." Piper murmured.

"Sleeping Beauty!" Phoebe shouted, moving like she'd been frozen the whole time. She came down the stairs and fell down besides Wyatt and Piper. "Sleeping Beauty was hurt, right? Pricked by a spindle on a spinning wheel. True loves kiss woke her up."

"Phoebe! This is not the time!" Piper snipped.

"Well, if you've got any better ideas." Phoebe snapped.

"What was on that bullet?" Paige asked, coming down the stairs.

"Standard. Devil's trap, soaked in holy oil and salt." Dean spoke, looking between them.

"Nothing that should've sent her into a coma." Sam commented from above, looking worried.

"Try it." Phoebe spoke, pushing on Wyatt's shoulder.

"What? I'm not in love with her." Wyatt spoke, looking between his mom and his aunt.

"But you love her none the less. At least you wouldn't have shot her." Phoebe said, sending a pointed look at her father.

" _Not_ the time." Sam spoke, looking at both Dean and Phoebe.

Leo moved out of the way and Wyatt crawled the short space to look over her. She looked like she was sleeping, her chest slowly rising and falling. Wyatt wanted to glance up at her dad, but he knew he'd lose his nerve if he did. He cupped the side of her face and slowly moved down until his lips brushed hers.

Her arms moved up to wrap around his neck and she pulled him closer into the kiss, making him smile as he moved back away from her.

"What the hell?" Sam asked, taking a step back as they sat up.

Piper just smirked, looking over at her sister. "You had a vision, didn't you?"

Phoebe grinned. "I did, actually. And what kind of aunt am I if I don't help my nephew get the girl?"

"I think the girl got your nephew." Leo spoke with a smile, falling onto his butt next to his wife.

"What? You were awake the whole time?" Dean roared.

Ellie turned to her dad with a glare. "You shot me! Not for the first time, but I'm still pissed, alright? You deserved every moment of that and ten more!"

"You moved in front of my shot! I didn't shot you! You got shot." Dean defended.

"You took a bullet for me." Wyatt murmured, watching Ellie closely.

"Hey, I guess that means you owe me your life." Ellie grinned.

"It's yours." Wyatt smiled, leaning in to kiss her once more.

"No, stop. Just stop." Dean said, pushing on their shoulders to separate them.

"So…" Sam coughed, looking around awkwardly. "What now?"

"You hop in your stupid old car and never darken our doorstep again." Paige said with a big smile.

"Don't you dare talk about my baby that way!" Dean told her, pointing a finger to reinforce his voice.

"Hey," Wyatt said quietly, making Ellie look at him again. "How about an ice cream?"

Her eyebrows shot up her face. "An ice cream? I saved your life and you're gonna repay me with ice cream? You owe me at least fifteen ice creams. And maybe a pizza."

Wyatt grinned. "You uh… you wanna get out of here?"

"Pizza first. Almost dying made me super hungry." Ellie said with a smile.

"I'll bring her back later." Wyatt said, looking at Dean as they started to orb away.

Piper smiled, watching them orb out of the room and looked over at Leo. "Ya know, we didn't do too bad with that one."

"Can't say much about the other two." Paige mock whispered to Phoebe who slapped her leg.

"I should probably go get the other two." Leo said.

"Yeah, could you not leave our kids in New York overnight? That'd be great." Piper said with a smile.

"If my condo is trashed-" Phoebe started, but Leo was already gone.

Sam stood there with his mouth hanging open a little and Dean just looked confused. "New York?"

"Yeah, that's where my condo is." Phoebe said with a smile. "So since you're all done trying to kill us, you wanna stay for dinner?"

"Oh yeah. I was gonna make gumbo." Piper chimed in.

Dean slowly stood, looking over at Sam as white and blue light flooded the room. Wyatt and Ellie were standing next to each other, Wyatt's arm around Ellie. Ellie's face had softened as she moved away from him, coming to stand in front of Dean.

"I forgive you, ya know." Ellie told him plainly.

Dean ducked his head and Ellie could see the flare up of shame in his features. "It shouldn't have happened."

"Do you know what mom's last words to me were?" Ellie asked, reaching to hold his hand.

Dean licked his lips, looking up at the ceiling as he shook his head.

"She told me, 'Don't let your dad go back to hunting.' I didn't know what she meant, but I do now." Ellie told him.

Dean's entire posture deflated, and he slipped his hand out of Ellie's to run it over his face.

"Thanks, dad, for going back to hunting." Ellie told him, moving to hug him under his arms.

Dean looked caught off guard before hugging her back. "I don't think you should be thanking me." He told her quietly.

"I wouldn't if I was anybody else, but I'm not. I'm me and I'm thanking you for taking me hunting with you." She told him, moving back to stand next to Wyatt. "We'll be back by sun rise."

"You absolutely will not!" Dean barked before Sam's hand set on his brother's shoulder, making him slump just barely. Dean took a breath and worked his jaw before looking at his daughter again. "Midnight, alright? Please?"

"You too, buster!" Piper chimed in, giving Wyatt a pointed look.

"Yes ma'am." Wyatt said with a little eye roll.

"Bye dad!" Ellie said, excitedly waving to him as Wyatt orbed them out.

Dean sighed. "You freaks got anything to drink around here?"

Paige smirked. "I'll fix you one up. You want one too, gigantor?" She asked, looking Sam's way.

Sam chuckled once before sighing. "Make it a double." He said as they all moved into the kitchen.


End file.
